Re: [Paddlewise] Solo or Not?

Fellow 'so-low' paddlers:

Dave Kruger said:

>Some of Doug Lloyd's adventures got me to thinking about the issue of solo
>paddling.  Doug is a very ballsy guy who seeks out challenging conditions,
>sometimes testing (or exceeding) his limits.  I do not aspire to Doug's
>heights.  But, I do find myself sometimes out paddling solo in conditions
>which test my meagre skills.

Its funny you know, but I sometimes think the safest, most skilled paddlers
are those who know their limits and stay well within them. They usually
display excellent judgement, have really good common sense, and don't spend
time solo paddling until they have a variety of experience and gained
important understanding by paddling with more experienced friends. Don't
yawn, hear me out! If anyone could have pulled off that crossing to the
Storm Islands, it was Dave Blacoe and I. Though Andrew's (the third member
of the team) rudder dependency and subsequent loss of his rudder and
general inability to handle the open sea slowed us down enough to miss our
"window of opportunity", he was the one who really knew his limits and the
compounding dangers extant. Dave (not Dave Kruger) and I, with greater
skill and ability, were guilty of hubris -- yes, even withstanding Andrew's
problems. Hubris will get all of us sooner or later, if we don't constantly
reevaluate our risk behaviour. (Haven't seen that word before? Look it up,
it should be entered into your brain's lexicon of paddling safety terms).
This is even more true for those of us who solo paddle. Having said that,
funnily enough, it was the fact that we *were* a group, that we even
attempted the crossing. I'm not sure any one of us would have contemplated
crossing on our own. Andrew certainly let himself get talked into it. When
Andrew was asked what he most learned from the rescue, he said, "next time,
I'll go solo".

>I think one of the reasons I am out there wishing I had somebody else
along to
>share the adventure (misery?) is:  I could not find anybody *suitable* to
>paddle with me that day!  And, I wonder how common that is.

Very common - depending on the difficulty level of the trip. Off season
paddling, long crossings, and open coast multi-day trips are the hardest to
pair up for. However, even that is all relative. One of Victoria's top
paddlers, who is a coach, BCU trained, etc, was having a hard time finding
partners for the open coast. He asked if I would like to go on a trip with
him. Sure, you got the transportation, lets go, I said. As it turned out,
he had never threaded much through reefs before, kept following close in
behind me, such that he would get clobbered by boomers, etc. I told him to
find his own routes. A trip or two latter, he was up to speed, until a big
sea was running one day on a different trip, in North Brooks. He said he
had never paddled in anything like what we were in, and never wanted to
again.  I thought it was fairly lumpy, but normal open coast conditions
that day. I'm no sh^*%$t hot paddler or anything, despite my Paddlewise
persona (I'm more of an Energizer bunny - I just keep going and going no
matter what the conditions and sea-state). Point is, experience is relative
and finding perfectly suitable partners very difficult, unless you are all
at a low skill level, paddling sheltered waters. Too many paddlers stay in
that mode, too, unfortunately.
  
(snip).

>Yeah, I know some of this might sound elitist, but I do not think it is a
good
>idea to embark on a paddling trip which is likely to overtask someone with
>poor bracing skills or inadequate self-rescue ability.  Better to go alone.

Tim, from Pacific Water Sports in Seattle, says this as his mantra. He
feels you are far safer alone than with a group of poorly skilled paddlers
if trouble develops, as long as you have good skills, of course. PW'ers in
the area should go have a talk with Tim, he has some good insights.

>So, I am wondering:  how often do others paddle solo, and why?

90% for me. Not too many people want to paddle with me, bad notoriety, you
know. But then, I don't want to paddle with most other people, either. The
good paddlers I know, all have weird personalities and foibles -- I'm
deadly serious. Glad *I* don't have any though <G>

<snip>

I'd love to paddle Dave Kruger, though. He sounds like a mature, thoughtful
guy, epitomizing the consummate, careful paddler. And that's the advantage
of not always going solo -- some good stuff might rub off on you from the
other person!

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd

>Here's my profile:
>
>30 % solo
>
>nobody suitable to go with
>
>-- 
>Dave Kruger
>Astoria, OR
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